FSO Safer moored off Yemen coast is 'ticking time bomb', warns rescue mission head

The FSO Safer tanker moored off the coast of Yemen is a “ticking time bomb” due to risks of toxic gas and oil leaks, a maritime infrastructure expert spearheading a rescue mission has told The National.

The vessel, which holds more than 1.1 million barrels of Marib light crude oil, has prompted warnings from industry and environmental experts about the potential consequences of a spill in a region already rocked by unrest.

Donations on Thursday poured into a UN fund aimed at averting a catastrophe stemming from the quickly disintegrating ship in the Red Sea.

The conference raised more than £6 million, including a UK contribution of £2.5 million. This followed the £80 million already pledged by more than 20 other countries and a range of private sector donors.

A statement from the UK government said that the boost in funds would allow the UN to start the operation to transfer the oil on to a replacement vessel and resolve the immediate threat.

Minister for Development Andrew Mitchell said the UK had brought its total commitment to £8 million.

“This conference has made vital progress towards avoiding an environmental, economic and humanitarian catastrophe on a massive scale,” he said afterwards.

The conference welcomed a mix of pledges from governments and private firms as the UN aims to fund the delicate project that will transfer the oil safely from the FSO Safer to another vessel.

Oil companies Octavia Energy and its subsidiary, Calvalley Petroleum, announced a joint donation of £238,000 towards the mission, set to begin in the coming weeks.

The tanker has been moored 8km off Yemen’s coast since 2018, when offloading was halted by the conflict between the Iran-backed Houthi rebels and the Saudi-backed government.

MIT Salvage, a subsidiary of Dutch maritime services company Boskalis, last month signed an agreement with the UN Development Programme to remove the oil from the ship.

Peter Berdowski, chief executive of Boskalis, told The National the sensitivities and challenges of the operation are unique due to local factors.

“It’s a ticking time bomb in the Red Sea,” he said. “The Safer is currently controlled by the Houthis. They realise it’s a very important piece in a bigger jigsaw. It has trading and export value.

“It’s a very tricky operation because of the location. We need to make sure that all parties involved [abide by the agreement] … and all the frogs remain in the basket.

“If I was not fully confident we would not be sending our people in.”

The Houthis gave assurances to the UN that missiles will not be pointed or fired at the vessel during the rescue mission, he said.

Mr Berdowski said he expects the inspection, emptying, cleaning and removal of the ship to last up to six weeks.

“It has not been properly inspected for years,” he explained.

“It has cracks and is in a deplorable state. The exact situation it is in is unknown. We will have to make sure that there are no toxic gasses leaking. The removal of potential toxic gasses will take two weeks.

“Then we will pump the oil out into a new tanker. We will clean the tanks next with chemicals and water. Then she will be unhooked and can be towed away. We expect the total operation to last four to six weeks.”

One of Boskalis’s vessels is due to arrive in Djibouti later this month before the mission begins.

The company was involved in freeing the Ever Given container ship from the Suez Canal in 2021, when it blocked the major trading route for six days.

Simon Boxall, a lecturer at the University of Southampton’s school of ocean and earth science, told The National that any gas or oil leaks would wreak havoc on the environment.

The urgency of the rescue cannot be understated, he added.

“This needs to be done very soon,” he said. “It’s got to a stage where we are looking at a [potentially] huge environmental disaster.

“A large amount of oil is in a relative shallow and closed environment.

“The dangers are enormous. Fishing would be shut down for months and even years.”

The cost of a clean-up of an oil spill of the magnitude possible from FSO Safer has been estimated to be as high as £16 billion.

UAE-based production company the Hayel Saeed Anam Group was among those urging the private sector to donate cash to rescue the ship and avert a disaster.

Nabil Hayel Saeed Anam, HSA’s managing director for the Yemen region, said he and his team were “gravely concerned” over a potential oil spill, warning it would have a “disastrous impact on our home market of Yemen”.

It would also pour fuel on the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and exacerbate food insecurity, he added.

“A spill would also be a major humanitarian and ecological catastrophe,” he said.

“A spill would affect communities across the whole of the Red Sea region that rely on trade and economic activity in the area for their livelihoods, including Sudan, which is already facing a crisis of its own.”

Mr Anam called on decision-makers in the international private sector to “urgently step forward and contribute to the recovery effort”.

“The time to act is now,” he said.

Darran Lucas, spokesman for Octavia Energy and Calvalley Petroleum, said the donation “illustrates our commitment to Yemen and the Yemeni people”.

“The two companies continue to invest heavily in the local economy, creating jobs and helping the community through an incredibly difficult period,” he said.

“We encourage other companies from the private sector to also pledge donations for the FSO Safer salvage operation.”

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